Hello, community. I created an account to promote the caveman regimen (not washing your face or using products of any kind on it.) After about three weeks my acne has reduced quite a bit and the scars were less noticeable. I have two or three theories as to why this regimen works (at least for me.)

1.) After a while I noticed a buildup of dry, dead skin on my face, particularly around my nose. However, the only time this dry skin was noticeable was if I scratched at it. I believe that dry skin getting into pores and causing acne is a myth. Think about it, when you were younger your body should condition itself to having that dry skin on its face. The body isnt naturally self-destructive. It's not going to cause a bunch of inflammation with its own shedding of its skin cells. What if this build-up is supposed to act as a sort of make-up that makes the skin look smoother and at the same time stops harmful bacteria and substances that would cause acne from coming into contact with your pores? Exfoliating it off would only make your skin susceptible to all the acne-causing substances throughout the world.

2.) One of the main ideas behind the caveman regimen is that the products were using actually causes acne. Aside from harsh chemicals causing their own inflammatory response, I have another theory as to why this might be true. If you're a gazelle in the wild, and a cheetah is coming at you, you're not just going to stand there. You're going to run like hell. Well, if you're "acne-causing bacteria" why would you stay in the same place when a cocktail of chemicals designed to kill you is invading the skin? The logical "fight or flight" response of organisms kicks in and the bacteria is going to run like hell and spread to other areas of the skin. A bitch far-fetched, im sure, but something worth thinking about.

Anyways, that's all I have to say. My skin is healing, and I believe the dead skin is a good thing. My face doesnt overproduce oil. The only time it did that was when I constantly exfoliated. As an experiment yesterday, I got rid of all the dry skin that I call a natural make-up with an exfoliant and my skin looked horrible even 8 hours after I did it.

As another experiment, I had multiple sugar binges throughout the three weeks and I found that I'd get new breakouts the next day. I know a lot of people say "durrhurr it was probly underneath the skin for weeks waiting to come out. nuffin 2 do wiff sugar." Yeeeah.. Well I dont believe that. Maybe some kind of acne can be under the skin for weeks, but our bodies werent designed for that kind of slow response. If it were, we'd have been picked off in the evolution arms race.

Great to hear im not alone trying this caveman method! Im on day 3.... My face is very dry and flaky!! I was actually kind of tempted today to wash and exolifate, but i resisted so far!
Idk if the flakiness is normal at this stage?
Any tips wld be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks fir addressing this subject😃

Hmm... I dunno. I've never tried the caveman method (I wear makeup so I really can't do this) but when I exfoliate it makes my skin look soooo beautiful for days after. Almost like baby skin. I've never experienced it making it look horrible unless I overdid to the point of irritation (I only exfoliate maybe 1-2 nights per week).

I am on an all natural regimen though, so maybe that has something to do with it. A lot of commercial exfoliaters are full of chemicals. I now use baking soda. For washing I use organic oils and raw honey. When I occasionally get a spot I use tea tree oil. Works great!

I'm glad this is working for you though...but the thought of all that dead skin on my face. I just couldn't deal with that.

Hmm... I dunno. I've never tried the caveman method (I wear makeup so I really can't do this) but when I exfoliate it makes my skin look soooo beautiful for days after. Almost like baby skin. I've never experienced it making it look horrible unless I overdid to the point of irritation (I only exfoliate maybe 1-2 nights per week).

I am on an all natural regimen though, so maybe that has something to do with it. A lot of commercial exfoliaters are full of chemicals. I now use baking soda. For washing I use organic oils and raw honey. When I occasionally get a spot I use tea tree oil. Works great!

I'm glad this is working for you though...but the thought of all that dead skin on my face. I just couldn't deal with that.

Yeah. I don't know why you guys go around with this dead skin mask on your face. That doesn't do any thing. Stop using cleansers and harmful topicals like BP and don't scrub your skin, sure. But there is no reason to not wash your face with water or oil and do some mild exfoliation. I wipe my face with a wet washcloth every morning and oil cleanse when I have makeup to remove. I've been doing that for a couple of years now.

Status: Clear after 30 years. Wow, I guess it's been 6 years, now.

[ Story: Severe Acne since I was 10. 10+ years of Dermatologists, Antibiotics, topicals and ACCUTANE did nothing. Discovered oranges triggered the worst of my cystic acne = about 70% improvement. Tried some nutrient supplements like B-complex with zinc and C, saw palmetto and a BHA like the aspirin mask = more improvement, a lot less oily. Then, Diet changes = Clear.

Regimen: Anti-inflammatory, nutrient dense, blood sugar stabilizing diet and supplements (for hormones, inflammation, aging, health). No soap or other cleanser except for hand washing! Water only or Oil cleanse. Aloe Vera mixed with niacinimide and a high linoleic acid oil for moisturizer and reduce pigmentation.

It's great, isn't it? I'm still trying to figure out what exact oils/combinations of oils to use. At first I did a 30/70 ratio of castor to grapeseed. But it didn't seem like it was fully clearing my pores. So now I'm doing a 50/50 mix with a few drops of lavender oil. Seems to be working about the same, I can't really tell.

So true about the BP. I wish I hadn't destroyed my skin with that stuff for years and years. I tried exfoliating with baking soda another time back then and thought it was horrible because of how badly it irritated me, but I know now it was just reacting with the BP I was putting on there twice per day. Now it doesn't irritate me at all.

Hmm... I dunno. I've never tried the caveman method (I wear makeup so I really can't do this) but when I exfoliate it makes my skin look soooo beautiful for days after. Almost like baby skin. I've never experienced it making it look horrible unless I overdid to the point of irritation (I only exfoliate maybe 1-2 nights per week).

I am on an all natural regimen though, so maybe that has something to do with it. A lot of commercial exfoliaters are full of chemicals. I now use baking soda. For washing I use organic oils and raw honey. When I occasionally get a spot I use tea tree oil. Works great!

I'm glad this is working for you though...but the thought of all that dead skin on my face. I just couldn't deal with that.

Yeah. I don't know why you guys go around with this dead skin mask on your face. That doesn't do any thing. Stop using cleansers and harmful topicals like BP and don't scrub your skin, sure. But there is no reason to not wash your face with water or oil and do some mild exfoliation. I wipe my face with a wet washcloth every morning and oil cleanse when I have makeup to remove. I've been doing that for a couple of years now.

Well the dead skin layer is devoloping for a reason, so it does do something.The body doesn't just do stuff without a purpose. Many people has stated that the dead skin is PROTECTING the layer underneath while it heals and the skin returns to nromal after a couple of months, i've seen you on alot of these caveman regimen posts and you are very negative to the whole thing, which i don't know why. The caveman regimen is very good for some people and not that good for others, a big percentage on this forums and people generally having acne has been doing this cycle: 1. Get normal hormonal pimples, very mild, however they get annoyed by it and buy creams to deal with it. 2. Things get worse and has to include more chemicals, exfoliation, stronger %bp, cleansers, toners etc. 3. Even worse, find other ways like accutane, diets etc. Diets is also a big factor for SOME while not at all for others.

So it's not hard to understand that chemicals for some people is doing more damage than good. However I know this regimen is hard to do for girls because of makeup and stuff, so i understand that some ignorent people can look at this regimen as something negatively because they can't do it themselves. No offence

Hmm... I dunno. I've never tried the caveman method (I wear makeup so I really can't do this) but when I exfoliate it makes my skin look soooo beautiful for days after. Almost like baby skin. I've never experienced it making it look horrible unless I overdid to the point of irritation (I only exfoliate maybe 1-2 nights per week).

I am on an all natural regimen though, so maybe that has something to do with it. A lot of commercial exfoliaters are full of chemicals. I now use baking soda. For washing I use organic oils and raw honey. When I occasionally get a spot I use tea tree oil. Works great!

I'm glad this is working for you though...but the thought of all that dead skin on my face. I just couldn't deal with that.

Yeah. I don't know why you guys go around with this dead skin mask on your face. That doesn't do any thing. Stop using cleansers and harmful topicals like BP and don't scrub your skin, sure. But there is no reason to not wash your face with water or oil and do some mild exfoliation. I wipe my face with a wet washcloth every morning and oil cleanse when I have makeup to remove. I've been doing that for a couple of years now.

Well the dead skin layer is devoloping for a reason, so it does do something.The body doesn't just do stuff without a purpose. Many people has stated that the dead skin is PROTECTING the layer underneath while it heals and the skin returns to nromal after a couple of months, i've seen you on alot of these caveman regimen posts and you are very negative to the whole thing, which i don't know why. The caveman regimen is very good for some people and not that good for others, a big percentage on this forums and people generally having acne has been doing this cycle: 1. Get normal hormonal pimples, very mild, however they get annoyed by it and buy creams to deal with it. 2. Things get worse and has to include more chemicals, exfoliation, stronger %bp, cleansers, toners etc. 3. Even worse, find other ways like accutane, diets etc. Diets is also a big factor for SOME while not at all for others.

So it's not hard to understand that chemicals for some people is doing more damage than good. However I know this regimen is hard to do for girls because of makeup and stuff, so i understand that some ignorent people can look at this regimen as something negatively because they can't do it themselves. No offence

Basically this, your skin will become very flaky and dry, but this is a good sign. Do not exfoliate that dead skin layer right away, I would leave it there for a good 7 days or so, it is like dead scar tissue. Then you will need to start wash/exfoliating daily. I would recommend using oatmeal to wash with. It is very gentle and will remove the dead skin, no cloth needed. Simply take a handful of oatmeal place it in a small bowl, add hot water and let it sit for a good 5 minutes. Then wet your face and wash it with the oatmeal.

And yes, I recommend this for everyone. The oil cleansing might work, but I have met too many people that said it broke them out, it's a risk. I have yet to meet anyone that said oatmeal has broke them out.